The Third Great Coarse Acting Show

Michael Green defines a Coarse Acting Show as a "closely observed imitation of stage disaster" and these five plays cover a range of disasters appalling enough to turn any show into a Coarse one

They are also, of course, extremely entertaining ...

In A Fish in Her Kettle, it is the simple lack of a door handle which causes the disaster, as most of the cast find themselves trapped on stage when the door jams

The second play - Present Slaughter collapses because of one unlucky slip by the leading man, who cuts his wrist when he collides with a tableful of glasses

The Vagabond Prince is an all-purpose Coarse Musical, with a roistering chorus of gypsies and earthy tavern men and women

The fourth play Stalag 69 is, according to the director, "a seminal investigation into the relationship between man and war", a noble concept somewhat marred by the fact that the set is upside down for the first run-through, and collapses completely during the second, revealing the stage staff enthusiastically producing a startling range of live sound effects

The final play - Julius and Cleopatra - a Roman spectacular, illustrates two of the Laws of Coarse Acting - one, that every person in a Coarse crowd is hideously deformed or crippled for some reason, and two, that when stabbed, all pain is always felt in the bowels, no matter where the wound is!

Great fun!

To see the rest of the Coarse Acting series, click here